At the pARTy last Friday night, Jen taught us all how to make these spectacular mobiles. She was incredibly organized and is such a wonderful (and patient) teacher. We each got our own packet of supplies and all community items were carefully labeled. Good thing, because after a glass of wine (or two) it's easy to get a little careless. But Jen's a pro, she knows what she's doing and she's done it before and I certainly hope she'll do it again.

It had been a looooong time since I had been out without my boys. It felt great to have uninterrupted adult conversation, meet some new and fascinating women and create a beautiful piece of artwork all in one evening.

When I read about Doug Rhodehamel's Spore Project (from Ann Wood) I couldn't resist introducing them to my preschoolers. So last week we spent a good part of the morning making quite a few of these mushrooms. The kids had a blast and they were easy enough even for the not-quite-three-year-olds. You can learn how to make them here.

They are now decorating all corners of our schools yard, and we even potted some up for the front steps.

And finally...I've mentioned here before about my childhood friend, Polly who walked around the world to raise awareness for breast cancer. She has such an amazing story and she and her brother have created a documentary that will be debuting later today...so if you're in the neighborhood, I encourage you to come by. More information here.

I found these five last week at ARC. Each one cost only two or three dollars. While I'm not sure exactly what I'm going to do with them (any suggestions?), I just couldn't bring myself to leave even one of these behind. As an avid needleworker all my life, I appreciate each stitch and can't help but to wonder about the person who loving created each piece. You can see them all here.

I’ve been such an erratic blogger these days.Just too much going on in my life right now.I still love having this little space though.I find my peace here.I love that I am constantly inspired by all of you, still continue to make new connections and am always learning.

When I first began, I was a closet blogger and told absolutely no one about it.I’m not sure why exactly…I felt a little shy about sharing this world with my friends.It was a full year before I even told my sister about it.Which is odd since I greatly admire this talented woman, and despite the seven-and-a-half year age difference we have been as close as best friends can be.She was my maid-of-honor and made my bridal headpiece when I got married.

I am truly blessed in the sister I have.She was my second mother growing up…always looking after me, taking me places, making me clothes (like the top seen here).I imagine it was a great nuisance having a little sister always tagging along, but if I ever did annoy her, she never let on and actually included me in all of her activities.

We took a doll making class together five years ago.She impressed me by making 6 or 7 to my 1 doll.She gifted me this one

and made this one for her husband.

She has always been creative…she studied dance and art most of her life…and now she is a dedicated art teacher.I love that she was so inspired by Camilla’s drawings in the calendar I gave her one year, that it moved her to paint this.

For many years she sold her artwork in little shops in Boston and Maine…like this paper mache bowl she made for me years ago.

I finally told her about my blog when I was hosting the bird ATC swap.I had a new passion for trading ATCs and wanted her to play along.She was thrilled to participate and made these beautiful hand painted ones.

Since then, she has been my number one fan, my biggest supporter and best promoter.She tells everyone (literally, everyone) she meets about my blog.She praises my work and acts almost proud to show others.I love that she “has lunch” with me by sitting down at her desk to eat while checking for a new post (sorry Sistah, I’ve been such a boring lunch date lately).Well, I am officially out-of-the-closet and I have to admit it’s kind of nice to talk about this crafty world openly now.And it’s always fun to get a random email here and there from someone in my non-cyber world who has been reading.